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Atom
History Albert Pratt was born in 1920, later in life Pratt was a sophomore a Calvin College in 1940 and suffered great many indignities due to his short stature, leading to him being ever the target of harassment and bullying, and referred to as "Atom Al" by his tormentors, leaving him unable to impress the girl of his dreams. One day, however, feeling sympathetic he bought dinner for a vagrant who turned out to be Joe Morgan, a former boxing champ. Morgan promised Pratt he could be made into a muscular man with the right training. In under one year Pratt became a massively strong fighter, and he decided to use his new ability to protect the oppressed as the 'mystery man' Atom. World War II At the start of World War II, President Roosevelt organized the "mystery men" to band together and create the Justice Society of America. Pratt was a founding member and later the All-Star Squadron, where he struck up a strong friendship with fellow member Wildcat. He was present when the JSA battled Ian Karkull, where Pratt was bathed in mystical energies which kept him young for the next few decades, along with his fellow team-mates. The Human Atomic Bomb In another battle alongside the All-Star Squadron, Pratt fought the reluctant villain known as Cyclotron. Energy released in that battle caused Pratt to develop radiation immunity by the late-1940s, but when the Atom and Starman went to the Manhattan Project site to stop a rising foe, Pratt, without thinking, ran out to the fallout area to save Starman and was caught in another explosion. He was unaffected by this, their foe being defeated in that blast. It was discovered that the further radiation gave him more superpowers than the previous encounter had. Career, Marriage, Life Pratt was always very intelligent but ignorant towards nuclear physics; after the incident with Starman at the Manhattan Project site, he then started studying nuclear physics and gained his PhD to become a brilliant scientist. Later he took up a job of a nuclear physics professor at Alma Mater Calvin Collage. In the early 50s, Atom retired along with the rest of the JSA after being urged by the American government to remove their masks and work for them. Al then revealed himself as the Atom to his sweetheart Mary James and her parents and proposed to her afterwards. They married and led a happy life together. Years later, Pratt came out of retirement to rejoin the JSA. He and the rest of the JSA teamed up with the Justice League of America for the first time to battle a group known as the Crime Champions. During this adventure, Pratt met Ray Palmer, the modern-day Atom. Pratt continued battling evil alongside the JSA and his best friend Wildcat. Pratt's bravery inspired his godson Albert Rothstein, the grandson of Cyclotron (who looked up to Pratt as a father figure), to use his powers for good as the superhero known as Nuklon. Pratt joined the JSA and other heroes in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event. During the epic battle, Wildcat was severely wounded and seeing his friend crippled greatly effected Pratt, who wondered if he was getting too old for the hero game. Later the JSA where drawn into Limbo to do battle with the forces of evil for eternity to prevent Ragnarok. After only a few years, Pratt and the rest of the JSA returned to Earth and Al was reunited with his beloved Mary. Tragedy Pratt and his wife became pregnant and were expecting a son, but a great enemy of the Atom and the JSA deduced that the child would inherit the Atom's powers of a human atomic bomb and be a tool in his plot to dominate the world. When Mary gave birth, Savage stole the child and killed her. When Pratt discovered the news of her death, he was utterly devastated. After this tragedy he stayed close to his friends Wildcat, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott. Despite his reluctance to get back into crime fighting, Pratt joined his teammates in battling a scheme concocted by their old foe, the Ultra-Humanite. He stayed with the JSA when the group reassembled. Death Years later, Pratt joined his fellow JSA members in taking part in the event known as Zero Hour. Most of the JSA went to the realm known as the Vanishing Point where they were ambushed by the being known as Extant. Extant taunted his foes with boasts about how he could control time, and as usual, the hot headed Pratt hurled himself at Extant. The time-controlling villain fired an energy blast and killed Pratt instantly. He then proceeded to decimate the ranks of the JSA. Waverider rescued the heroes taking them and the Atom's body back to Earth. Pratt was buried in the superhero cemetery known as Valhalla. Legacy To honor his god/foster father Albert Rothstein took up a costume similar to Al’s and adopted the name Atom Smasher to honor Atom's legacy, but the responsibility was too much for Albert and he eventually went rogue. It was discovered that the hero Damage was Al’s lost son but sadly Pratt was dead by the time this was discovered and Grant grew to hate his father due to his absence throughout his life. Lately Grant has been his wearing his fathers mask to cover his recently disfigured face and has joined the JSA filling his father's place. Blackest Night Pratt's body was later reanimated by Black Hand as a member of the Black Lantern. Like all Black Lanterns, he was sent out to kill the person who his death most affected, his son Grant, though he was stopped by Ray Palmer before he could harm his son. After the crisis was over, Pratt’s corpse was returned to Valhalla. Afterlife In the afterlife, Al befriended David Knight. David brought his brother, the next Starman, Jack Knight to a banquet in limbo attended by Pratt and several other deceased mystery men. Powers and Abilities Powers *Superhuman Strength: Through being exposed to nuclear energies, Al Pratt possesses superhuman strength. *Atomic-Punch: The Atom focuses his radioactive energy into his fists making his punches destructive. *Superhuman Stamina *Enhanced Speed *Enhanced Durability *Radiation Immunity: Invulnerability to various forms of radiation *Energy Absorption: The Atom can absorb atomic/nuclear energy *Decelerated Aging: He also gained incredible youth and vitality after the battle with Ian Karkull. Abilities *Genius Intellect: Pratt was a genius in physics and nuclear physics. *Expert Boxer and Street Fighter. Strength level After his training, Albert Pratt was abnormally strong for his size. After he gained his powers, Pratt's strength was raised to superhuman levels. Weaknesses/Disadvanteges Shortness